Conventional assembly lines for producing motor vehicle subassemblies typically include a series of stationary work stations, each of which performs a different operation on the subassembly. While an assembly line of this sort is suitable for mass production of a single type of subassembly, it does not readily accommodate multiple different types of subassembly intended for diverse models of automobile.
Furthermore, the work stations of conventional automobile assembly lines often employ robots having articulated arms. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,387 to Jaufmann et al. discloses a flexible manufacturing system for the processing and production of semi-finished vehicle body subassemblies which includes articulated robot arms. A disadvantage of using such conventional robots is that the articulated arms require a large swept out area in which to operate, which correspondingly increases the floor space required for the assembly line.